Shen Long (Megiddo)
The Shen Long (Mandarin for "Divine Dragon") is a knightmare frame utilized by the Chinese Liberation Army in Code Geass Megiddo. It is noteworthy as the personal knightmare of Captain Yu Yin, one of the three Tianshou (Mandarin for "Heavenly Beasts"), the loyal followers of Senior General Li Xingke. 'Appearance' The Shen Long generally looks akin to the Shen Hu, but given elements of the Final Fantasy XIII’s Bahamut and Gundam 00’s Susanoo. Its frame is similar to the previous three Beast units, but its armor design is based on the Bahamut, its skirt armor is similar to the Shen Hu and it has four head feather antennae. Colors are crimson red with gold and silver highlights. 'Design' Developed (under forced coercion) by Rakshata Chawla herself as part of the Four Beasts line, the Shen Long was meant to be a next generation knightmare frame that would see the highly antiquated Chinese Liberation Army brought to the modern age. Possessing both advanced technology as well as the standard superior engineering of the Chawla Design Bureau, the Shen Long was very much a product of the seventh generation; in fact, the Chinese had specifically requested that the Shen Long and its three siblings be able to fight the Britannian ''Lancelot'' on equal footing. And though highly reluctant to serve the oppressive communists, Rakshata would nonetheless grant the Chinese a weapon like no other; one that would serve them well some years later. Amongst its lineup, the Shen Long was designed to be the Ultimate Power Unit. Having been built by the same team that developed the Guren Isshiki, and later on the ''Guren Nisshiki'', the Shen Long incorporated many design elements of its Japanese oriented counterparts, as well as some of its own unique features. Its main feature is its applied usage of baryon tech, which was the standard trait of the entire Four Beasts line. In the Shen Long's case, it mounted a powerful Baryon Booster System in its torso. When activated, the Baryon Booster transmits baryon fueled energy throughout the frame, from the Yggdrasil drive to the inner mechanics to the exterior armor, augmenting the Shen Long's performance level three times over. As a bonus, it also generates an afterimage effect for the Shen Long, in which excessive baryons are shed from the armor, taking the Shen Long's form as well as heat and electronic signatures, as it moves. This process causes confusion both with the human eye as well as with most conventional sensors, making the Shen Long difficult to track and target. Its secondary weapons are two "Sheng Biao" slash harkens mounted on its wrist. By wrapping or impaling an enemy with the slash harkens, the Shen Long can send a powerful electrical charge along the cable, instantly destroying the knightmare on the receiving end. Alongside, the Shen Long's wrist armor can spin in place to turn the Slash Harkens into powerful flails which can double as shields. Finally, the Shen Long is armed with twin shuang gous (hook swords) as its principle melee weapon. Though lacking any special features, the shuang gous are robust weapons capable of cutting through most forms of armor. Alongside, their curved and hooked designs make them naturally effective as grappling weapons. 'Armaments' ;*"Sheng Biao" Slash Harken : The Slash Harken is the signature weapon of the Knightmare Frame, and is used by almost all KMF models. Slash Harkens are wire-guided projectiles with some form of anchor-like blunt object at its tip. They can be used in multiple ways varying from offensive to defensive, or as a means of transportation via anchoring them in an object, and retracting the cable. The "Sheng Biao" type holds all of these capabilities as well as several of its own unique features. First and foremost, it can generate an electric pulse upon contact, causing a power surge within the target's inner mechanics that may disable it or cause its own systems to overload and detonate. Second, the "Sheng Biao"'s armor ports can rotate in place, turning the harkens into powerful flails that can double as shields. ;*Shuang Gou : The Shen Long's hand-held weapons of choice. Though otherwise simple melee weapons, the shuang gous' blade are made out of special composite materials that make it far denser and sharper than normal. Because of this, it can easily repel more extravagant blades, such as MVS and chainswords. Alongside, their curved and hooked designs make them ideal as grappling weapons, allowing the Shen Long to ensnare targets as well as cut or tear into them. System Features ;*'Dual-Eye Sensor Camera' : Following along Britannia's theme for its sixth and seventh generation prototypes, the Shen Long was equipped with a dual-eye sensor camera system. These cameras were decidedly more advanced than standard camera types, and were capable of visualizing the Shen Long's surrounding to the best amount of detail and focus. Despite this however, the Shen Long's cameras had certain difficulty focusing at higher levels, which was a defect in the initial Britannian design that Rakshata inadvertently reverse engineered; it would not be until the Black Knights' capture of the Gawain ''that she would be able to fix this defect for her creations. Because of this, Rakshata would turn to a European influenced mono-eye camera system for later designs. ;*'Multispectral Sensor System''' : The Shen Long carries a standard sensor package, though one decidedly more powerful than preceding types. Compared to most sensors utilized by the Chinese, the Shen Long's is effectively in a league of its own, allowing its pilot greater coverage of the battlefield than he would normally enjoy. ;*'Landspinner Propulsion System' : Following the standards of high mobility per its generation, the Shen Long is equipped with advanced landspinners, which are designed to produce much greater revolutions than standard units as well as holding reinforced tires for increased durability, especially against rougher terrain. Since being upgraded with an air glide system however, the Shen Long has since become much less dependent on its landspinners, though they are obviously still usable should the fight switch to the ground. ;*'"Long Xin" Baryon Booster System' : The Shen Long's central feature. The "Long Xin" (Mandarin for "Dragon Heart") is a special booster system meant to augment the Shen Long's performance three times over. Once activated, baryon fueled energy is transmitted throughout the Shen Long's frame, from its Yggdrasil drive to its inner mechanics to its outer armor, augmenting all systems and overall performance (as well as causing the Shen Long ''to take on an extravagant golden color). As a side effect of this process, excessive baryons are continually shed from the ''Shen Long's armor as it moves, leaving likenesses, or afterimages, of the Shen Long along its path. As these afterimages have the same heat and electronic signatures of the Shen Long, sensors have great difficulty tracking and/or targeting the KMF while the Shen Long's movements are blurred and confused to the naked eye. However, the Long Xin can only be utilized for up to five minutes, after which the Shen Long will revert back to its standard performance levels. 'History' Though meant to be a pathfinder for future Chinese knightmares, the Shen Long, along with its three siblings, would prove too advanced and too difficult for most Chinese pilots to utilize. Thus, after several disastrous evaluation runs, some of which actually ended in pilot fatalities, the Shen Long and its brethren were placed into storage and promptly forgotten. As a result, the Chinese Liberation Army would continue to utilize the ''Gun Ru'' as its mainline knightmare, much to the detriment of Chinese devicers and commanders everywhere. In 2018, however, the Federation would become annexed by Britannia, and the Chinese Liberation Army would end up going rogue and underground under the direction of is last Senior General, Li Xingke. Through this process, Li and his disciples, the Tianshou, would rediscover the Four Beasts and promptly put them back into action. The Shen Long would be taken by Captain Yu Yin, the "youngest" and sole female of the Tianshou. Though it would take her and her compatriots almost an entire year to learn to control their new weapons, Yin would eventually come to master the Shen Long and use it in her army's insurrection against the Britannian occupiers and their collaborators.